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Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ Provided Yemen’s Houthis with Military Communications System

Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (SPA)
Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (SPA)
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Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ Provided Yemen’s Houthis with Military Communications System

Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (SPA)
Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (SPA)

The Saudi-led Arab coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen announced on Monday that it has evidence that proves the presence of foreign military experts in Yemen, reported the Saudi Press Agency.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said that these experts are training the Iran-backed Houthi militias and providing them with an integrated military communication system.

The Lebanese “Hezbollah” group, which is also backed by Iran, is involved in these operations, he added during a press conference in Riyadh.

There is enough evidence that proves that the Iranian regime is providing the Houthis with weapons that are being smuggled through Beirut’s southern suburbs to Syria and then to Iran’s Bandar Abbas port city, he revealed.

“‘Hezbollah’ is the Houthis’ greatest arms supplier,” he added.

Moreover, Maliki cited the party’s role in operating different command and control positions in the Saada province. Five of these positions, located in Mashtab, Maran, Razeh, Al-Maglag and Al-Noua'a mountains, have been destroyed by the coalition forces.

Addressing humanitarian efforts in Yemen, he said that the Arab coalition had issued 26,997 relief permits between March 26 and June 9, 2018.

He highlighted Saudi Arabia’s topping of the world donor countries list of the UN-sponsored Response Plan in Yemen 2018.

The King Salman Humanitarian Act and Relief Center has provided relief assistance for 4,954,742 beneficiaries within 167 days as part of the Comprehensive Humanitarian Operation Plan for Yemen.

On the ground, Maliki stressed that the Yemeni national army was scoring victories throughout the country, citing its major advances in Saada, Taiz and al-Baydha provinces.

Moreover, he drew attention to the Houthis’ recruitment of widows to join their war effort.

He deemed this an unprecedented flagrant violation of human rights and Yemen’s conservative traditions.

In another victory for the alliance, he declared the Yemeni zone neighboring Saudi Arabia free of ground-based militias after it was purified by the coalition forces and Yemeni national army.

A few pockets in Saada and Omran are still being used for the launching of ballistic missiles and projectiles.

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Arab World

Scores of Yemenis Killed, Wounded in Floods Caused by Heavy Rains

Floods in a street in Sanaa (EPA)
Floods in a street in Sanaa (EPA)
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Scores of Yemenis Killed, Wounded in Floods Caused by Heavy Rains

Floods in a street in Sanaa (EPA)
Floods in a street in Sanaa (EPA)

Torrential rains in Yemen killed and injured more than 18 people and affected over 22,000 families in 15 governorates located mostly in Houthi-controlled areas.

While residents accuse the Houthi militia of underestimating the disaster and being unresponsive to the distress calls, the group admitted that 21,378 houses were damaged by the floods triggered by heavy rains.

A total of 8,339 houses were fully damaged, 13,034 houses were partially damaged, and 51 others are in imminent danger of collapsing.

The militia group said 159 agricultural lands were affected by the harsh weather while 28 dams, wells and water networks collapsed.

Additionally, it reported 82 cases of hazardous rockfalls and roadblocks and said the rains washed away 22 livestocks.

The Hajjah governorate topped the list of governorates where houses were the most damaged, while Al-Mahweet governorate registered the highest numbers of hazardous rockfalls.

Residents said that the militia stood idle and exerted zero efforts to protect them, their interests, and their properties such as carrying out evacuation operations and launching previous warnings.

Local sources reported that the floods led to the destruction of three houses in the Old City of Sanaa, Tahrir, and in a village in Hajjah. The third house's collapse killed a child.

Floods have also partially destroyed four other houses, making the families homeless, due to rock falls.

For more than ten days, dozens of households have been displaced from Houthi-ruled areas to more secure areas after their houses collapsed. Other households expressed concern that their houses could fall due to more floods and to the Houthis abstaining from acting on this.

Meteorologists expect more rainfalls of different intensities in the Yemeni capital and cities of mountain highlands, and most of them are under the militias’ control.

The United Nations warned that rains would hit several Yemeni regions in the next few days and lead to the spread of desert locusts.

“Field reports indicate that 31 people died, 37 were injured, and 3 were reported to be missing in the wake of the April floods,” the UN food agency FAO said in a statement.

The report noted that this caused “huge damage to spate irrigation infrastructures across much of the wadies,” the FAO added.

Heavy rains also caused devastating rockfall, especially in Yarim District, which is under militias’ control, FAO added.

Heavy rains persisted with heavy downpours reported in Al-Mahwit, Hajjah, Dhamar, Raymah, Ibb, and Sanaa.

The United Nations Population Fund noted, “Between January and April 2023, 2,102 families were affected by extreme weather conditions, including heavy rain and floods across the country."

"The majority of those affected reside in areas that are hard-to-reach and hosting displaced persons."

“The RRM cluster stepped up its response to assisted flood-affected families, with operational presence in all of the 12 flood-affected governorates.”

“Emergency teams were deployed by the RRM cluster to assess the damage to dwellings and shelters in all of the 62 districts affected by rains and flooding within the 12 governorates.”

 

Arab World

French FM: We Don’t Have a Preferred Candidate for Lebanon’s Presidency

France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrives with his wife, Brigitte Macron (R) and his former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), for a two-day visit in Le Mont-Saint-Michel, north-western France, on June 5, 2023. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrives with his wife, Brigitte Macron (R) and his former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), for a two-day visit in Le Mont-Saint-Michel, north-western France, on June 5, 2023. (AFP)
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French FM: We Don’t Have a Preferred Candidate for Lebanon’s Presidency

France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrives with his wife, Brigitte Macron (R) and his former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), for a two-day visit in Le Mont-Saint-Michel, north-western France, on June 5, 2023. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrives with his wife, Brigitte Macron (R) and his former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), for a two-day visit in Le Mont-Saint-Michel, north-western France, on June 5, 2023. (AFP)

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna stressed on Thursday that her country does not have a preferred candidate for the presidency in Lebanon.

The election of a president is a priority for France, especially given the dire economic crisis Lebanon is enduring, she added during a meeting with her Lebanese counterpart Abdalla Bou Habib in Riyadh.

The FMS were in the Saudi capital to take part in the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

Colonna announced that French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian personal envoy to Lebanon where he will be active in speeding up the process to elect a new president.

Macron led international efforts after a massive explosion that killed more than 200 people in Beirut in 2019 and destroyed swathes of the capital city. But his efforts afterwards to resolve the political and economic crisis that followed failed.

"In the spirit of friendship that binds France to Lebanon, the President of the Republic continues to act in favor of a solution to the institutional crisis and the implementation of the reforms necessary for the recovery of this country," the French presidency said in a statement.

"He appointed Jean-Yves Le Drian ... as his personal representative in order to discuss with all those who, in Lebanon and abroad, can contribute to breaking the deadlock."

Le Drian was foreign minister between 2017-2022 and had been in charge of putting several of Macron's initiatives for Lebanon into motion and coordinating with the French presidency.

A former Socialist lawmaker and defense minister for five years under President Francois Hollande between 2012-2017, Le Drian is deemed a political heavyweight and is the latest politician to be brought back into Macron's fold over recent months.

After almost four years, France has failed to use its historical influence in the country to push its squabbling politicians to carry out economic reforms that would unlock vital foreign aid.

Most recently it has faced criticism for its role behind the scenes as Lebanon attempts to find a new president.

Lebanon has had no head of state since President Michel Aoun's term ended at the end of October, deepening institutional paralysis in a country where one of the world's worst economic crises has been festering for years.

Arab World

Sudan Declares UN Special Representative Persona Non Grata

United Nations envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes. (EPA)
United Nations envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes. (EPA)
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Sudan Declares UN Special Representative Persona Non Grata

United Nations envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes. (EPA)
United Nations envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes. (EPA)

The Sudanese government has declared United Nations envoy Volker Perthes "persona non grata", two weeks after the army chief accused him of stoking the country's civil conflict and sought to have him removed from his post.

Since late last year, Perthes and the UN mission he heads in war-torn Sudan have been targeted by protests denouncing perceived foreign interference.

In a letter to the UN last month, Sudan's military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan blamed the envoy for exacerbating fighting between his army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has repeatedly defended Perthes, who earned ire after criticizing both leaders of Sudan's warring parties as the two-month conflict evades efforts to broker a humanitarian ceasefire.

"The Government of the Republic of Sudan has notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations that it has declared Mr. Volker Perthes ... persona non grata as of today," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

Perthes was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday for a series of diplomatic talks, according to the UN mission's Twitter feed.

Last week, the precarity of the UN's status in Sudan was highlighted when the Security Council voted to extend the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) for only six months.

Created in June 2020 to support Sudan's democratic transition after the fall of longtime President Omar al-Bashir a year earlier, UNITAMS's mandate had previously been renewed annually for a year.

Sudan's stuttering path to civilian rule was disrupted in 2021 when Burhan and Daglo together seized power in a coup before falling out.

Spiraling humanitarian crisis

Since April, fighting between the army and the RSF has gripped Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, defying a series of truces.

Upwards of 1,800 people have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, and the UN says 1.2 million have been displaced, with more than 425,000 fleeing abroad.

Those unable to leave have been forced to camp out for weeks as supplies of food and other vital goods have been depleted.

Entire districts of Khartoum no longer have running water, electricity is only available for a few hours a week and three-quarters of the hospitals in combat zones are not functioning.

The most recent truce was agreed to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid into areas of Sudan ravaged by the fighting, but like all those that preceded, the accord was routinely violated by both sides.

The UN estimates around 25 million people -- more than half of Sudan's population -- are now in need of aid and protection in what was already one of the world's poorest countries before the conflict.

Perthes, a former academic who has headed the Sudan mission since 2021, has staunchly defended the UN against accusations of inflaming the conflict, saying those responsible are "the two generals at war".

In his letter to Guterres, Burhan accused Perthes of bias and of not respecting "national sovereignty".

He said Perthes presented a misleading picture "of consensus" in his reports to the UN, and "without these signs of encouragement, the rebel leader Daglo would not have launched his military operations".

It has never been possible to verify who fired the first shots of the war.

Arab World

Swiss Team to Visit Lebanon in Central Bank Chief Probe

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo
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Swiss Team to Visit Lebanon in Central Bank Chief Probe

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo

A Swiss delegation will visit Lebanon as part of investigations into Central Bank chief Riad Salameh, a judicial official said Thursday, as European legal pressure mounts on the top banker.

Switzerland was the first European country to open an investigation into Salameh, who is the subject of a series of judicial probes at home and abroad into the fortune he has amassed during some three decades in the job.

In January 2021, Lebanon said it had received a Swiss judicial assistance request as part of a probe into more than $300 million in fund movements by the central bank chief, as well as his assistant and his brother.

Lebanon "was informed by the Swiss authorities that a Swiss judicial delegation will visit Lebanon soon" over Salameh's case, the official told AFP on Thursday, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The delegation will meet a local judge and might seek to question individuals over the wealth of Salameh and his entourage as other European countries have done, the official added.

In March 2022, France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a move linked to a probe into Salameh's wealth.

Judicial authorities in France and Munich in Germany last month issued arrest warrants for Salameh over accusations including money laundering and fraud, and Interpol subsequently issued Red Notices targeting him.

An Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant but asks authorities worldwide to provisionally detain people pending possible extradition or other legal action.

European investigators this year have questioned Salameh in Beirut, also hearing from others including his assistant Marianne Hoayek, his brother Raja, a Lebanese minister and central bank audit firms.

Lebanon does not extradite its nationals, but Salameh could go on trial in Lebanon if local judicial authorities decide the accusations against him are founded, an official previously told AFP.

Following the Red Notices, a local judge questioned Salameh, confiscated his French and Lebanese passports, banned him from traveling and released him pending investigation.

In February this year, Lebanon charged Salameh as part of its own investigation, which it opened after the assistance request from Switzerland's public prosecutor.

Salameh, who denies all accusations against him, continues to serve as central bank governor. His mandate ends in July.

Activists say the travel ban helps shield him from being brought to justice abroad -- and from potentially bringing down others in the entrenched political class, which is widely blamed for endemic corruption in the crisis-hit country.

Arab World

Algeria, US Begin New Round of Security Dialogue

A photo of the US delegation with Algerian military and civilian officials (US Embassy in Algiers)
A photo of the US delegation with Algerian military and civilian officials (US Embassy in Algiers)
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Algeria, US Begin New Round of Security Dialogue

A photo of the US delegation with Algerian military and civilian officials (US Embassy in Algiers)
A photo of the US delegation with Algerian military and civilian officials (US Embassy in Algiers)

Members of a high-ranking US government delegation confirmed at the end of a visit to Algeria that the talks, which brought them together with security officials addressed cooperation and countering terrorism.

The security dialogue is a cornerstone of the US-Algeria relations as both countries seek stability and prosperity in North Africa and the Sahel.

A US interagency delegation of senior officials from the Departments of State, Treasury, and Defense visited Algeria on June 5-6 for a security dialogue to advance shared regional counterterrorism and stability goals.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs Anna Morris and other high-ranking US officials met with their counterparts from the Algerian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Interior, and Finance.

Morris lauded Algerian efforts and effective policy in combating sources of terrorist financing.

She indicated that Algeria has mechanisms that protect the financial system against all forms of terrorist financing, which also guard the international financial system, including the US.

The talks are within the framework of periodic meetings of a "security dialogue" between the two governments regarding the evaluation of joint actions to counterterrorism, exchanging information about extremists in the Sahel region, drying up terrorism financing sources, and tracking suspicious money sources.

In a press meeting in Algiers on Tuesday, attended by Asharq Al-Awsat, the US delegation mission described the meetings with their Algerian counterparts as "fruitful."

A US official at the Department of Defense said the talks addressed security challenges in the Sahel region, military activities, and strengthening military cooperation and security in the area.

He pointed out that there is a shared vision regarding solving African problems by working to develop development capabilities to achieve prosperity, stressing that this type of issue should not be dealt with through military solutions.

The senior official also pointed out that maintaining stability is crucial to ensure the success of counterterrorism and eradicating poverty.

Deputy Coordinator for the Bureau of Counterterrorism overseeing Regional and Multilateral Affairs Gregory LoGerfo stated that Algeria and the United States are partners in the search for solutions to security problems and the Sahel to achieve prosperity and spread security and stability.

LoGerfo noted that he has been working with Mali, Mauritania, and Togo governments for the same purpose.

The official stressed that Washington is a "reliable partner," with an excellent partnership with Algeria and a shared vision regarding the situation in Mali and Burkina Faso.

LoGerfo has been visiting Algeria since 2015.

Military and civilian sites in Mali and Burkina Faso were recently attacked by extremists.

The three officials stated that the US defense sector is interested in expanding partnerships with African countries in combating terrorism, adding that they are ready to provide tools that can help solve the security issues.

They highlighted that the US government wants African officials to understand how terrorist financing and suspicious funds are transferred abroad to determine the needed mechanisms to address this threat.

Regarding Algeria's endeavor to diversify its military weapons purchases and whether the visit addressed an Algerian request for US military equipment, the delegation members confirmed that their government welcomed a supposed proposal. However, their meetings with Algerian officials did not discuss this matter.

Arab World

Grundberg Awaits Saudi, Omani Efforts to Find Yemen Solution

Grundberg with British Minister of State Lord Tariq Ahmad (Grundberg's Office)
Grundberg with British Minister of State Lord Tariq Ahmad (Grundberg's Office)
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Grundberg Awaits Saudi, Omani Efforts to Find Yemen Solution

Grundberg with British Minister of State Lord Tariq Ahmad (Grundberg's Office)
Grundberg with British Minister of State Lord Tariq Ahmad (Grundberg's Office)

Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy to Yemen, wrapped up a series of high-level meetings in Riyadh and Muscat with Yemeni parties and ambassadors representing the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council.

During these discussions, Grundberg emphasized that his office is diligently formulating a range of perspectives and visions in anticipation of the outcomes stemming from joint efforts of Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Grundberg clarified that efforts aim to achieve consensus on measures to improve living conditions and implement a nationwide ceasefire, as well as initiate a comprehensive UN-backed process for a sustainable peace transition.

On Monday, the UN envoy visited the Omani capital, Muscat, where he met with senior Omani officials and held discussions with the chief Houthi negotiator, Abdulsalam Fleitah, commonly known as Mohammed Abdulsalam.

They explored ways to advance the ongoing peace efforts.

Grundberg’s visit came after a series of multiple meetings held by the UN envoy in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

During these meetings, he met with Yemeni President of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad Al-Alimi, Council member Aidarus Al-Zoubaidi, and Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik.

According to the envoy’s statement, these meetings were devoted to discussing ways to achieve consensus on measures to improve living conditions, implement a nationwide ceasefire, and initiate a comprehensive UN-backed process for a sustainable peace transition in Yemen.

Grundberg also met with Saudi Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber, as well as ambassadors from the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council, in order to consult on ways to ensure combined regional and international support for the mediation efforts led by the UN.

Additionally, Grundberg met with Yemeni House of Representatives Speaker Sultan Al-Barakani and presented the efforts and communications he made during his visits to countries involved in the region, including the US and China, as stated by the official website of the Yemeni House of Representatives.

The UN envoy affirmed that his office is preparing various perspectives and visions for solutions considering the outcomes resulting from the Saudi and Omani efforts, in addition to his own endeavors.

He stated that despite the highly complex Yemeni crisis, the UN remains committed to achieving comprehensive political solutions that serve the Yemeni people, preserve the lives, security, stability, unity, and territorial integrity of its citizens.

 

 

 

Arab World

Amnesty: Increase in Custodial Deaths Must be a Wake-up Call to Lebanon’s Government

File photo of Roumieh prison, east of Beirut. Photo: Getty images
File photo of Roumieh prison, east of Beirut. Photo: Getty images
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Amnesty: Increase in Custodial Deaths Must be a Wake-up Call to Lebanon’s Government

File photo of Roumieh prison, east of Beirut. Photo: Getty images
File photo of Roumieh prison, east of Beirut. Photo: Getty images

Amnesty International has called on the Lebanese authorities to “urgently prioritize the health of prisoners,” saying deaths in prisons run by the Interior Ministry nearly doubled in 2022 compared to 2018, the year before the ongoing acute economic crisis began.

Ministry of Interior figures shared with the organization paint a stark picture of rising mortality rates as deaths increased from 14 in 2015 to 18 in 2018 and 34 in 2022.

“The sharp increase in custodial deaths must be a wake-up call to the Lebanese government that their prisons need urgent and drastic reform. They must decongest prisons, including through utilizing non-custodial measures as alternatives to pre-trial detention, and must commit additional resources to ensure people in prison are receiving adequate healthcare and have immediate access to emergency medical care,” said Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The economic crisis is no excuse for prison authorities to deny prisoners access to medication, shift the cost of paying for hospitalization to the families of prisoners or delay prisoners’ transfers to hospitals,” she said.

“The judiciary should promptly and impartially investigate every death in custody, and any shortcomings and neglect on the part of the authorities must be addressed, including, where appropriate, through prosecution of those responsible,” Majzoub added.

According to Amnesty, The Ministry provided no explanation of the causes of deaths in custody. But the organization’s investigation raised concerns that the marked increase in deaths in custody is linked to the economic crisis crippling the country, as well as shortcomings in prison and health authorities in the provision of adequate and timely medical care to people in custody.

Overcrowding in prisons has become particularly acute in recent years. Lebanese prisons are 323% over capacity, and around 80% of detainees are held pre-trial, said Amnesty's investigation titled “Instead of Rehabilitation, He Found Death: Deaths in Custody Doubled Amidst Four-Year Economic Crisis.”

The combination of overcrowding and dire detention conditions has led to the deterioration in the health of the prison population. Meanwhile, in light of depreciating currency and skyrocketing inflation, resources for the provision of healthcare have drastically decreased, it added.

While the authorities have blamed the economic crisis for the deterioration in the health of prisoners, in at least three cases of deaths in custody in 2022, families of the deceased told Amnesty that prison officials dismissed the complaints and symptoms of those detainees prior to their death, delaying their treatment and transfer to hospitals and causing their conditions to worsen.

Arab World

Israel to Discuss E1 Settlement Plan that Divides the West Bank into Two

A picture taken from the E1 corridor in the West Bank, showing the Maale Adumim settlement (Getty Images)
A picture taken from the E1 corridor in the West Bank, showing the Maale Adumim settlement (Getty Images)
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Israel to Discuss E1 Settlement Plan that Divides the West Bank into Two

A picture taken from the E1 corridor in the West Bank, showing the Maale Adumim settlement (Getty Images)
A picture taken from the E1 corridor in the West Bank, showing the Maale Adumim settlement (Getty Images)

Israel pushed for the discussion of the most politically sensitive settlement plan in the West Bank, despite the strong opposition of the US and the international community.

The Central Planning Committee in the Israeli Civil Administration of the West Bank will meet the following Monday to discuss the "E1" settlement plan dividing the West Bank into two parts, linking Jerusalem with the Maale Adumim settlement.

The Israeli Walla website said that the most politically sensitive project aims to prevent establishment of a future contiguous Palestinian state.

Walla said that the meeting would occur despite being postponed several times due to international pressure and fierce opposition, especially from the United States and Europe.

The US, the UN, and the EU have publicly rejected the project several times, saying it is destructive to the two-state solution.

The E1 is a vast settlement project approved in 1999 and extends over about 12,000 dunams of the occupied West Bank, most of which are lands declared by Israel as "state lands."

The project aims to connect Jerusalem with several Israeli settlements by confiscating Palestinian lands and establishing new settlements in the area between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim.

The plan will further isolate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and create a continuous chain of illegal settlements extending from East Jerusalem to the Jordanian border.

It will impede the geographical contiguity between the north and south of the West Bank, separating it and making it impossible to establish a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Authority believes the E1 is dangerous and has repeatedly threatened to take advanced steps, such as canceling agreements or withdrawing recognition of Israel if it implements the project.

An Israeli official said that the Subcommittee for Objections would discuss public objections to the plan, suggesting that it will not make any practical decisions regarding the building.

According to Israeli sources, Washington opposed the meeting and wants to prevent the slightest progress, which it believes thwarts the two-state solution.

By ending objections, Israel would have achieved a significant step towards removing obstacles and beginning the construction plans. Notably, the objections stage is the last in a series of steps before publishing tenders.

The Walla report stated that the session may exacerbate tensions with the US administration at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to improve his relations with the White House.

The Israeli "Peace Now" movement said that the most extremist and dangerous government in the country's history is eradicating any chance for a better future after it decided to allow the return to the Homesh settlement.

"They are again spitting in the faces of our American friends, and this reflects continued harm to the security and political interests of the State of Israel," the Israeli group Peace Now said.

Peace Now said Netanyahu was taking these steps to appease settler leaders in the West Bank who are allies of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the extreme-right Religious Zionism Party.

Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the report.

Arab World

Israeli Army Mounts Rare Raid into Palestinian City of Ramallah, Clashes Ensue

TOPSHOT - This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defense system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 13, 2023.(Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defense system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 13, 2023.(Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israeli Army Mounts Rare Raid into Palestinian City of Ramallah, Clashes Ensue

TOPSHOT - This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defense system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 13, 2023.(Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defense system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 13, 2023.(Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Clashes erupted after Israeli forces mounted a rare raid into the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank early on Thursday, in what the military said was an operation to demolish the house of an assailant.

A Reuters witness said a large military convoy arrived in downtown Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government, leading hundreds of Palestinians to gather in the area.

Some Palestinian youth hurled stones at the Israeli forces, who fired live bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd, the witness said. Trash bins that were set on fire blocked roads as ambulance sirens wailed.

The Palestinian health ministry said at least six people were transferred to hospital for treatment, including three who sustained gunshot wounds.

The Israeli military said its forces were operating in Ramallah "to demolish the residence of the terrorist who carried out the bombing attack in Jerusalem last November".

The twin blasts killed two people, including an Israeli-Canadian teenager, and wounded at least 14 others in what police said were explosions of improvised bombs that were planted at bus stops near the city exit and in a junction leading to a settlement.

"The demolition of the homes of fighters is a collective punishment that falls under the war crimes committed by the occupation against our people," said Abdel Fattah Dola of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.

Israel has said the policy of demolishing homes of perpetrators is both punitive and a deterrence to potential attackers.

Hours earlier the US envoy to Palestinians, Hady Amr, met with senior Palestinian official Hussein Al-Sheikh.

Violence in the West Bank, among territories where Palestinians seek statehood, has risen during the past year. Israel has intensified its military raids amid a spate of street attacks carried out by Palestinians in its cities.

The Palestinian health ministry said at least 158 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since January. Israel's foreign ministry said 20 Israelis and two foreign nationals have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the same period.

Arab World

UNICEF Says 300 Trapped Children Rescued from Sudanese Orphanage

A Sudanese armed forces' (SAF) armored personnel carrier (APC) is pictured in southern Khartoum amidst ongoing fighting on June 7, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
A Sudanese armed forces' (SAF) armored personnel carrier (APC) is pictured in southern Khartoum amidst ongoing fighting on June 7, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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UNICEF Says 300 Trapped Children Rescued from Sudanese Orphanage

A Sudanese armed forces' (SAF) armored personnel carrier (APC) is pictured in southern Khartoum amidst ongoing fighting on June 7, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
A Sudanese armed forces' (SAF) armored personnel carrier (APC) is pictured in southern Khartoum amidst ongoing fighting on June 7, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

About 300 infants, toddlers and older children have been rescued from an orphanage in Sudan’s capital after being trapped there while fighting raged outside, aid officials said Thursday. The evacuation came after 71 children died from hunger and illness in the facility since mid-April.

The tragedy at the Al-Mayqoma orphanage made headlines late last month as fighting raged outside between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces.

The deaths have highlighted the heavy toll inflicted on civilians since mid-April when the clashes erupted between forces loyal to Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF forces led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

About 300 children at the Al-Mayqoma orphanage in Khartoum were transferred to a “safer location” elsewhere in the northeastern African nation, said Ricardo Pires, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency, UNICEF.

Sudan’s ministries of social development and health have taken charge of the children, while UNICEF has provided humanitarian support including medical care, food, educational activities and play, Pires said in an email to The Associated Press.

He said the children had received medical checks following their long journey to their new location, adding that “any child requiring hospitalization will have access to healthcare.”

The International Committee of The Red Cross, which helped with the evacuation, said the children, aged between 1 month to 15 years, were relocated after securing a safe corridor to Madani, the capital of Jazira province, about 135 kilometers southeast of Khartoum. Seventy caretakers have been transferred with the children, the ICRC said.

“They (the children) spent incredibly difficult moments in an area where the conflict has been raging for the past 6 weeks without access to proper healthcare, an especially hard situation for children with special needs,” said Jean-Christophe Sandoz, the head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan.

Nazim Sirag, an activist who heads the local charity Hadhreen, said in a phone interview that the children were ferried late Tuesday to a newly established facility in Madani.

Sirag, whose charity led humanitarian efforts to help the orphanage and other nursing homes in Khartoum, said at least 71 children died at the Al-Mayqoma since the war in Sudan began on April 15.

Among the dead were babies as young as three months, according to death certificates obtained by the AP. The certificates listed circulatory collapse as a cause of death, but also mentioned other contributing factors such as fever, dehydration, malnutrition, and failure to thrive.

Their relocation followed an online campaign led by local activists and international charities, which intensified after the death of 26 children in two days at the orphanage in late May. The children had been trapped in the fighting for over seven weeks as food and other supplies dwindled. The facility was inaccessible because of the war had turned the capital and other urban areas into battlefields.

“The safe movement of these incredibly vulnerable children to a place of safety offers a ray of light in the midst of the ongoing conflict in Sudan,” Mandeep O’Brien, UNICEF Representative in Sudan, said in a statement. “Many millions of children remain at risk across Sudan."

Local volunteers, meanwhile, evacuated 77 other children earlier this week from separate foster homes in the coastal, Sirag of Hadhreen said. The children have temporarily sheltered along with 11 adults in a school in the town of Hasahisa, also in Jazira province, he said.